Improvement in machines for making needles



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.

CHAUNCY O. CROSBY, OF NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR MAKING NEEDLES.

Spcciiicniion forming part of Letters Patent No. 104,278, dated June 14, 1870.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHAUNGY O. CRosBY, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Machine for Making Sewing- Needles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specitication, and represent, in-

Figure l, a top or plan view; Fig. 2, a sectional view, showing the arrangement of the carrier and dies; Figs. 3 and 4, the upper and lower die for compressing the oint, enlarged; Fig. 5, the die for trimming t 1e point; Figs. 6 and 7, the upper and lower die for grooving the head; Fig. S, the die, and Fig. 9 the punch for forming the eye Fig. 10, the trimming-die for the head; Figs. 1l and 12,

-the formation of the point; Figs. 13,14, and

l5, formation of the eye Fig. 16, a top view, enlarged, of the transferring device from the first carrier to the second; Fig. 17, an end view of the transferring device; Fig. 1S, a side view ofthe same; Fig. 19, a side view of the device for turning the needle preparatory to milling the head; Fig. 20, a side view of the mills; Figs. 21 and 22, the device for operating the mills around the head ofthe needle; Fig. 23, a front view, and Fig. 24 a side view, of the device for transferring the needles from the carrier to the grinding-plates; Fig. 25, a sectional view of the pointing apparatus; Fig. 26, a partial top view of Fig. 25; Fig. 27, a vertical, and Fig. 28 a longitudinal, section ofthe grinding-mills.

This invention relates to an improvement in automatic machinery for the manufacture of sewingneedles, the original patent for which was granted to me November 28, 1865. While, in many respects, this machine is identical with my original machine, for the better understanding of my improvements I have shown the whole machine complete, and so describe it, repeating, to a certain extent, the

description in my former patent, commencing with the introduction of the wire, and following it through its different stages until discharged from the machine ready for the temperin g process.

A is the bed-plate, supporting in bearings A1 the driving-shaft B, the said shaft caused to revolve by the application of power thereto through a pulley, Bl, and provided with a ily-wheel, B2, to equalize the power.

To operate upon the other parts of the machine, a second shaft, B3, is arranged in bearings A2, to which power is communicated from the principal shaft B through bevel-gears B4, so as to impart to the said shaft B3 a revolu- .tion corresponding to that of the main shaft. C is a clamp, arranged in a block, Cl, the said block arranged in guides C2, so as to bemoved longitudinally by the action of a cam, C3, through a lever, C4. Through this clamp the wire is passed, as denoted in broken lines, the clamp acting to Vgrasp the wire and draw or feed it in the required length for a needle-l blank at each revolution of the shaft B, and when so fed in it is cut off by a cutter, C5, actuated by a cam, C, through a lever, CT; but previous to being cut oii' it is inserted beneath 011e of the holding devices, 2, on the carrier D,the said carrierD being constructed as seen in Fig. 2, the holding device consisting of a spring bearing upon a die, c, fixed on the said carrier, thesaid holding devices being arranged around the periphery of the wheel equidistant, and so that the wire blanks,

when placed in the said holding device, are clamped and rmly held.

To insert the wire blank into the holding device, it is advisable to raise the clamps or springs at the time of the insertion of the blank 5 and to thus raise the spring I take advantage of a subsequent necessity, and before each insertion the carrier D is raised'by the action of a cam, Dl, through a lever, D2, as seen in Fig. 2, and then immediately before the insertion the carrier is dropped; but while it is raised the spring 2, which is to receive the bla-nk, passes onto an arm, D, which is of suflicient height that when the carrier drops the spring is held up and the holding device opened.

To the carrier D an intermittent rotary motion is imparted from the cam D5 through levers D6, operatin g a pawl, D7, and, by preference, each of the said intermittent movements is made equal to the distance between each of the holding devices. Therefore, after the blank has been introduced into the holding device on the carrier D, as before described, the said intermittent movement is given to the carrier, which causes the spring on the arm D4 to fall oif onto and secure the blank, and at the same time a second spring passes onto the arm I)4 to receive a second blank, and so on, a new blank being supplied to each of the holding devices on the carrier. I prefer to thusintroduce the blanks by automatically feeding and cutting off the wire, as by so doing'Iam enabled to straighten the wire at the same time it is drawn into the machine 5 yet for some classes of needles it may be advisable to cut the blanks independent of the machine and supply them singly to each of the holding devices. If the carrier D be moved with any great velocity, the tendency is to move beyond the desired point, or, at best, to be irregular in its movement. To avoid this I arrange a band,a1, around the said carrier, one end fixed to the bed at ai", the other end, a3, attached by a spring to the pawl D7. Therefore, as the pawl is thrown forward to move the carrier, it tightens the said band and produces a friction on the carriersufticient to prevent anyover motion. To hold the carrier when it has been turned to the desired position, I arrange a do g, D, to drop into one of the notches on the carrier.

The blanks having been thus fed into the machine, one end projecting beyond the holding device a sufficient distance to be operated upon, are each in turn presented iirst to the die E, then to the die F, then to the die G, each of these dies being operated, respectively, by cams El, F1, and G1, through levers E2, F2, and G2, the construction of the operative mechanism of the said dies being shown in Fin. 2, which consists of a vertical slide in connection with the said lever, the slide carrying the upper part, f, of the die, the lower part, f1, of the die resting upon an anvil, F3. The iirst of these dies forms the point, and they are constructed as seen in Figs. 3 and 4. They are of V shape, of the diameter of the wire at the outer end, and running to a point, as clearly seen in Figs. 3 and 4, which form the point, as seen in Fig. 11, the transverse section of which is square, and with a fin upon the two angles, as seen in the sectional view, Fig. 11.

To set the blank into the die the carrier is raised by the action of the cam D1, as before described, before it commences its intermittent movement, and is held up until the movement is completed, so that the blank passes in over the die and is properly laid thereon. The iirst die having performed its duty, the blank is carried forward to the second or trimming die, which is constructed as seen in Fig. 5, representing the upper die or shear corresponding to the V shape of the'iirst die. The lower die is of the shape of the slot in the upper die, so that the point rests thereon. while the upper die passes down and trims or cuts off the fin, leaving it in the condition denoted in Fig. 12, when the blank is translated to the third die,

G, which I make of the same forni as the rst die, and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The third die is used for the purpose of straightening the point. The blank is translated from die, to die by the intermittent movement of the carrier D, as before described. This preparation of the point, which leaves it square, as shown in the transverse section, Fig. l2, I find by practica-1 operation to be the best for the subsequent process of grinding, and a betterl effect and more solid point is attained by swaging the metal into this square form.

The point having now been prepared for the subsequent process of grinding, the next operation upon the blank is to form the eye. To do this the blank needs to be reversed, so as to present the other end. For this purpose I arrange a second carrier, I, having a like intermittent movement imparted to it by a cam, Il, acting through a lever, I2,and pawl I3, and provided in like manner with a frictional band, 17, extending around the carrier and iixed to the pawl by aspring, t", the vertical movement being imparted to the carrier by the cam I4 on the shaft B3 through a lever corresponding to the lever D5 in Fia. 2; and the said carrier is also provided with holding dies and springs 2', in like manner as the carrier D, the two carriers arranged so that the holding-die in one, when at rest, lies in line with a corresponding holding-die in the other, between which the transferring apparatus is arranged, as seen in Figs. 16 and 17, the holding-die 2 in the said figures being the die on the iirst carrier, and

the die 2' the corresponding die on the other carrier, the transfer to be made from the die 2 to the die 2. For this transfer a base, II, is fixed to the bed of the machine, carrying a slide, Hl, in guides H2, the said slide being operated by a cam, H3, through a lever, II, to move longitudinally acrossthe said base, and this slide IIx is provided with a pair of jaws, h and 71.*, the jaw h being fitted to a transverse slide, h2, arranged in guides on the slide II, so that by moving the slide h2 the jaw h is moved back from the jaw t, and it is thus moved by aV cam, h3, through a lever, h4, provided with a head, h5, so as to bear against the said slide h2 at any point within the length of the movement of the slide h.

When the blank is presented by the holding-die 2 the transferring device lies at that end of the guides H2, and the carrier as it falls places the blank within the said jaws, which have been opened preparatory toits reception.

To relieve the blank from the pressure of the spring 2, and also to raise the spring 2', I arrange a vertical slide, L, with arms Z and Ll, operated by a cam, L2, through a lever, L,

as seen in Figs. 17 and 18, so that the raising of the said slide raises both springs and holds them up until the jaws, having closed upon the blank, carry the blank across into the holding-die in` the opposite plate. Then the slide L dropsand leaves the blank withinthe grasp of the holding-die beneath the spring 2. Then, the jaws again opened, the'carrier rises, taking the blank from the jaws and advancin g the blank by each intermittent movement, new and previously-pointed blanks being presented for each succeeding holdin g-die.

To insure the equal length and proper position of each of the blanks, I arrange an adjuster, n., (see Fig. 16,) actuated by the lever H4, so as to strike the end of the blank and force it into the holding-die, and so act upon each blank as they are successively presented, thus arran gin g the blanks proj ectin g uniformly from t-he carrier I. At the time of this adj ustment the spring is relieved by passing over an arm, u', resting thereon until carried off by the movement of the carrier. The movement of the carrier advances the needle until it is presented to the several presses K Kl K2 K3, actuated respectively by cams K5 K6 K"I K8 through levers K2 K10 Kl K12, each constructed in like manner as the presses E F G, and standing in proper relative position to the carrier, as shown in Fig. 2. The first of these presses, K, is provided with dies above and below, constructed as seen in Figs. 6 and 7, so as to form the groove and partially form the eye, squeezing the surplus metal into a fin around the eye, as seen in Fig. 13; and in order to prevent this squeezing process from forcing the blank forward or straining upon the grooving-punch, the blank is of sufficient length to extend to an open offset, z, in the die 6, so that a portion of the wire is not compressed, but left projecting beyond the head, as seen in Fig. 13. I The second press, K1, is constructed to punch the eye, and is provided below with a die (shown in Fig. 8) and above with a punch. (Shown in Fig. 9.) The blank transferred to the said second press is set into the die, (seen in Fig. 8,) and the punch brought down pierces the partially-formed eye, leaving the blank as seen in Fig. 14. The blank is then carried to the third press, K2, which is provided with dies similar to the dies 6 and 7, each provided with a conically-sha-ped punch, corresponding to the form of the eye, but rounded so as to smooth and countersink the eye, the general appearance ot' the needle not being changed from that of Fig. 14. The blank is then carried to the lastpress, K2, which is the trimming-die, and is seen in Fig. 10. This consists of a shear 'for the two edges and `rounded head of the blank, the needle being supported by a correspondingly-shaped rest on the anvil, so that the said die passes down, trims oft', and shapes the head of the blank, as seen in Fig. l5.

The trimming of the iin naturally leaves more or less roughness around the edge of the head, and this is removed by the revolving mills; but, for convenience in presenting the heads to the mills, the blanks are turned onefourth over, so as to bring the trimmed surface upon the upper and lower edge, and it is thus turned by a rotating mandrel, N, arranged in suitable bearings N. (Shown detached in Fig. 19.)

The mandrel is provided with a fixed jaw, m, and a movable jaw, m', and around the jaw end of the mandrel a collar, N2, is placed., to

which a longitudinal movement is given by a forked slide, N 2, operated through a lever, N", by a cam, N5, so that as ythe ring N2 is moved in one direction it will close the jaws, and in the other open them.

The jaws are open to receive the needle, and so soon as placed within the grasp of the jaws` they close rmly upon the needle, and a quarter-revolution is imparted to the mandrel from a cam, N2, through the lever N 7 and rack and pinion N", turning the needle one-fourth over, thus turning the trimmed edge up and down.

To free the needle from t-he pressure of the springs on the carrier, the spring, during the process of turning, is raised and held by the action of a cam, N2, through a lever, N10. Having been thus set, the needle is presented successively to the mills M, arranged respectively in holders M1 M2 M3 M4, (shown detached in Fig. 20,) so that two of the mills grind upon the lower edge and two upon or around the end, the rst mill acting upon the upper side and the second upon the lower.

The mills are caused to revolve rapidly by belts arranged below the bed of the machine, or in other convenient manner; and a move-v ment is given to the mills radially to and from the center of the carrier I by means of cams M5 M6 M7 M3, acting upon their respective holders, so that thc mills are advanced, grinding ing off the roughness which is left -after trimming.

In order to cause the whole surface of the mill to be used, I arrange an inclined slide, j', actuated by cams f1, which are advanced as the mill advances, forcing itself between the mill-holder and the wall of the slot in onev of the standards which support said mill-holder, and consequently gives a transverse movement to the mills, causing them to work over an extended surface instead of in a constant line. This transverse movement may be given, as seen on the last two mills, by an inclne,f2, fixed in the mill-holder.

As a support for the needle while being thus operated upon by the two first mills, I arrange upon the first a iixed arm, i', so that the needle will rest thereon while the mill is operating upon theupper surface.

For the second mill, which is to operate upon the under surface, I arrange an arm, r1, upon a lever, r2, actuated by a cam, r3, which, when the needle is presented, presses down, so as to hold the needle on the mill.

To mill oft' or around the head of the needle, itis necessary to give to the mill a vertical swinging movement, the first down around the headl and thesecond up, and the millsM3 M4 are thus arranged, the tirst by a cam, f3, (see Fig. 21,) fixed to the frame which supports the mill-holder, as seen in said Fig. 21, so that as the mill advances it is raised to pass up around the head, taking the upper part of the needle.

The next mill, to take the lower part of the 

